random and sometimes coherent

May 1, 2011May 1, 2011

Weekend Thoughts

If I haven’t said it before, I love Sundays at Capital City Church!

Elena and the band started us right off this morning and they were kicking today. Pastor Brent’s sons Christian and Austyn joined the band today. Adam led out on the first song and nailed it. Very proud of our band and singers and the excellence they bring each week.

Today was the launch of our series, “Gray Matter.” This series was one of our favorites last year and we are looking forward to all that it will be this year.

Our topic this morning was the church and AIDS. You can listen to the message here. We showed a video of a man who was miraculously healed of AIDS several years ago and after 11 separate tests over the years is still clear.

The church is late in coming to this issue, but it is beginning to address it now and that is what matters at this point. We can’t change the past, but we can go from where we are.

We must stop judging others by where they are and what they are dealing with and realize that what matters is that they are at this point and need God’s work in their life. It doesn’t matter what got someone where they are, it is important where they go from here.

We had several return guests as well as some first-time guests. It is always an honor to meet our guests.

I am really liking the new format we are using in our services and Pastor Brent is doing a great job coordinating the various teams who make Sunday mornings happen. I very much appreciate the way he brings out and highlights something from the message each week as he wraps up the service. If you attend CapCity and haven’t had a chance to have a conversation with Pastor Brent and his wife Starla, make sure you do so this week.

It is important to my wife and I to live in the community we are trying to reach and today proved that value to me again. I had a fantastic conversation with someone late this afternoon at a birthday party for a friend of my daughter. Hopefully, we will see them at CapCity soon.

This weekend also held our “After Easter Egg Hunt”. Due to weather and field conditions we were not able to hold it last weekend as planned. Yesterday our crew of volunteers showed up and did an amazing job hosting a quality event for the families of the neighborhoods around the church.

We hold the egg hunt in the ball fields behind Winterset Elementary School across Henderson from our building.

Pastor Staci put in so much work for this event and it shows. We are blessed with phenomenal kids pastor! She pours her heart into kids and families every week and is making a great impact on the upcoming generation!

While the crowd was smaller due to weather and the reschedule, we still had a good turnout and 69% of those who came were guests from the neighborhoods around the school.

Saturday, 9 am to noon, is our second leadership and life development event, “Ethics and Decision Making.” Our own, Joe Scopelite and Major Chris Minter, will be presenting on this topic. Life can get complicated quickly and there are many gray areas in job, business, and relationships. Sometimes it seems that the only way to get somewhere is to compromise our values and integrity. It is possible to live upright and still have success. We can navigate the issues that arise in those gray areas. Our two presenters have vast experience in navigating these issues in everyday career situations. Joe works in corporate sales and has maintained his values even when the easy thing and the common thing would have been to compromise. Major Minter has risen the ranks of the Ohio State Police by making the tough decisions and not wavering in his principles and values even when faced with political pressures.

The “Gray Matter” series continues Sunday, May 8 with “Should women shut up in church?” It is also Mother’s Day and we have a very special day planned for the ladies. Each lady in attendance will receive a special gift. Some very special moms will be honored. We have baby dedications taking place. My wife, Elena, will be giving an illustrated message that you will not want to miss! There is also a surprise in store for every person who attends that morning.